Golden Gooses

13

     It was 11 PM by now, and Evan had woken up from his nap. Yet he hesitated to get out of bed and leave his room, hearing the faint quarreling of his parents. "What Evan described as a literal lightning bolt emitted from him, and injured a kid in his class. We all know magic is real, that government press release confirmed it! 'Oh, little ol' us giving birth to a magic baby? No way!' YES! All those other parents probably thought their kids being anomalies was impossible too! Now the worst-case scenario has happened; a kid is hurt, other parents are gonna get involved, kids on the playground saw it and will yap their little maws off to their parents, and the teacher saw it! Oh, that's the worst part! They are mandated reporters! What's stopping them from snitching to the "studying centers" and getting Evan taken away?!" Timothy tried to interject. "Listen, you have to think realistically here; Yes, the kids will probably tell their parents what happened - but what reason do those parents have to tell anyone if their kid isn't hurt? Why would the teacher report a harbored child either? There's just no reason for them to make your pessimistic fears come true!" Miranda jutted a finger out at him. "The government made anomalies sound like monsters, something to be afraid of! If that was us, Evan telling us some strange child with dangerous abilities was in the same class with him, I'd demand something be done! Why do you think the other parents won't do the same?!" Timothy fell silent, looking to the floor remorsefully. Miranda put her finger down and took a deep breath before shoving past Timothy on the way to their bedroom. Timothy trailed behind quietly. Evan cowered under his blanket, frightened by his parents' outburst. Studying centers? Dangerous? He questioned, confused by his parents' bickering. What did I do wrong? He thought as he whimpered. I'll just read a book to get my mind off it. He glanced over to his nightstand where his books lay. He reached over to turn on his lamp when a faint sizzle and snap was heard as his hand made contact. That sizzle popped, and out erupted a fury of lightning bolts through the lampshade, charring it. Evan screamed, pulling back his hand and looking at the chaos. The bolts scattered around his room, zapping and burning a lot of his belongings, as stray charges that couldn't find a conductor laid dormant around the room, still buzzing statically. Evan panted, collecting what just happened as he wiped some cold sweat off his brow. Miranda and Timothy had jumped out of bed, hearing Evan's shriek. Miranda burst through the door with Timothy beside her. They looked to Evan's shocked face peeking beneath his covers, and then around his room, which was now in ruins. They looked between each other in awe wordlessly, before turning back to a petrified Evan.